CLOTH FAIR

   East out of West Smithfield at No. 59 to Kiughorn Street (P.O. Directory). In Farringdon Ward Without.

   First mention: A tradesman's token, dated 1657 (Burn, 52).

   Pye Powder Court held there during the first three days of Bartholomew Fair (Strype, ed. 1720, I. iii. 285).

   Arms of Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, on one of the houses, said to have been in residence, 1795 (Gent. Mag. Lib.).

   Recent proposal to pull it down and widen the thoroughfares opposed on account of the interest attaching to the street, being one of the oldest left in the City and retaining an appearance of antiquity.

   Derives its name from the clothiers and drapers who inhabited it in former times, and attended the famous Bartholomew Fair.